Charlottesville Region Broadband Availability
Lee LeBoeuf, Michele Claibourn
11/30/2021
Data Source
- These data come from the FCC’s Form 477 Fixed Broadband Deployment Data.
- FCC data is released biannually on a year and half delay from when it was collected. New data can be downloaded from this link.
- Data presented here are from June of 2020.
Data specifics
- All internet providers must submit form 477 to the FCC biannually detailing the Maximum download and upload speeds (Mbps) they advertise to consumers along with other information about the company.
- The FCC makes these data publicly available on a year and a half delay from when all 477 forms are submitted.
- Limitations: (1) The data are available at the census block level, but are likely to overstate coverage; if an internet provider provides internet to a single person in a census block, the entire census block is marked as having coverage by that provider.
- Strengths: (1) These are the same data used by the government to make policy decisions regarding broadband access. (2) The Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability (DATA) Act of March 2020 is intended to reduce the limitation listed above.
- The FCC has established benchmarks for “advanced telecommunications capability”, services that enables “users to originate and receive high-quality voice, data, graphics, and video telecommunications.” The current benchmarks are set at speeds of 25 (download) and 3 (upload) Mbps (2020 Broadband Deployment Report).
Variable descriptions
Variables include:
# meta %>%
# filter(su_blkgp == 1) %>%
# select(varname, about) %>% as.list()
glimpse(eastblkgps)## Rows: 46
## Columns: 11
## $ Blkgr <chr> "510010901001", "510010901002", "510010901003", "51001090…
## $ tract <dbl> 51001090100, 51001090100, 51001090100, 51001090100, 51001…
## $ resproviders <int> 9, 8, 8, 9, 9, 9, 9, 7, 8, 7, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 9, 8, 3, 8, …
## $ bb253_num <int> 6, 5, 5, 6, 6, 6, 6, 4, 6, 5, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 2, 6, …
## $ bb253_per <dbl> 66.7, 62.5, 62.5, 66.7, 66.7, 66.7, 66.7, 57.1, 75.0, 71.…
## $ bbmin_dl <dbl> 2.0, 2.0, 2.0, 2.0, 1.5, 2.0, 1.5, 2.0, 1.5, 2.0, 1.5, 2.…
## $ bbmax_dl <int> 2000, 2000, 2000, 2000, 2000, 2000, 2000, 2000, 2000, 200…
## $ bbmin_up <dbl> 0.768, 0.768, 0.768, 0.768, 0.384, 0.768, 0.384, 0.768, 0…
## $ bbmax_up <int> 2000, 2000, 2000, 2000, 2000, 2000, 2000, 2000, 2000, 200…
## $ avgMaxAdDown <dbl> 262.05535, 366.43713, 363.01818, 333.31591, 165.62523, 30…
## $ avgMaxAdUp <dbl> 114.636745, 228.947713, 190.067618, 163.903828, 105.02847…BlockCode: geographic identifer for spatial area (tracts, block groups, and blocks)
Blkgr: geographic identifer for spatial area (tracts, block groups, and blocks)
tract: geographic identifer for spatial area (tracts, block groups, and blocks)
resproviders: The number of residential internet providers in the block/block group/tract
bb253_num: The number of residential broadband providers providing service that meets the FCC benchmark for “advanced telecommunications capability”, 25/3 Mbps
bb253_per: The percent of residential broadband providers providing service that meets the FCC benchmark for “advanced telecommunications capability”, 25/3 Mbps
bbmin_dl: The minimum advertised download speed provider in the block/block group/tract
bbmax_dl: The maximum advertised download speed provider in the block/block group/tract
bbmin_up: The minimum advertised upload speed provider in the block/block group/tract
bbmax_up: The maximum advertised upload speed provider in the block/block group/tract
avgMaxAdDown:The average maximum advertised download speed by each broadband provider in the block/block group/tract
avgMaxAdUp: The average maximum advertised upload speed by each broadband provider in the block/block group/tract
5-number summaries of variables by block groups:
eastblkgps %>% select(-c(Blkgr, tract)) %>%
select(where(~is.numeric(.x))) %>%
as.data.frame() %>%
stargazer(., type = "text", title = "Summary Statistics", digits = 1,
summary.stat = c("mean", "sd", "min", "median", "max"))##
## Summary Statistics
## ===============================================
## Statistic Mean St. Dev. Min Median Max
## -----------------------------------------------
## resproviders 7.7 1.8 1 8 9
## bb253_num 5.5 1.2 1 6 7
## bb253_per 73.0 8.8 57.1 75.0 100.0
## bbmin_dl 5.1 15.7 1 1.5 100
## bbmax_dl 1,876.1 474.3 100 2,000 2,000
## bbmin_up 0.7 0.7 0.1 0.4 3.0
## bbmax_up 1,870.8 494.6 3 2,000 2,000
## avgMaxAdDown 316.4 96.6 54.3 334.6 451.2
## avgMaxAdUp 203.8 75.8 2.6 225.5 336.0
## -----------------------------------------------Visual distribution
Tracts
easttracts %>%
pivot_longer(-tract, names_to = "measure", values_to = "value") %>%
mutate(measure = factor(measure, levels = c("resproviders", "bb253_num", "bb253_per",
"avgMaxAdDown", "avgMaxAdUp",
"bbmax_dl", "bbmax_up", "bbmin_dl", "bbmin_up"))) %>%
ggplot(aes(x = value, fill = measure)) +
scale_fill_viridis(option = "plasma", discrete = TRUE, guide = "none") +
geom_histogram() +
facet_wrap(~measure, scales = "free")
Block groups
eastblkgps %>% select(-tract) %>%
pivot_longer(-Blkgr, names_to = "measure", values_to = "value") %>%
mutate(measure = factor(measure, levels = c("resproviders", "bb253_num", "bb253_per",
"avgMaxAdDown", "avgMaxAdUp",
"bbmax_dl", "bbmax_up", "bbmin_dl", "bbmin_up"))) %>%
ggplot(aes(x = value, fill = measure)) +
scale_fill_viridis(option = "plasma", discrete = TRUE, guide = "none") +
geom_histogram() +
facet_wrap(~measure, scales = "free")
Blocks
eastblocks %>% select(-tract, Blkgr) %>%
pivot_longer(-BlockCode, names_to = "measure", values_to = "value") %>%
mutate(measure = factor(measure, levels = c("resproviders", "bb253_num", "bb253_per",
"avgMaxAdDown", "avgMaxAdUp",
"bbmax_dl", "bbmax_up", "bbmin_dl", "bbmin_up"))) %>%
ggplot(aes(x = value, fill = measure)) +
scale_fill_viridis(option = "plasma", discrete = TRUE, guide = "none") +
geom_histogram() +
facet_wrap(~measure, scales = "free")
Mapping the data
Number of residential broadband providers
Tracts
pal <- colorNumeric("plasma", reverse = TRUE, domain = maptracts$resproviders)
leaflet() %>%
addProviderTiles("CartoDB.Positron") %>%
addPolygons(data = maptracts,
fillColor = ~pal(resproviders),
weight = 1,
opacity = 1,
color = "white",
fillOpacity = 0.6,
highlight = highlightOptions(
weight = 2,
fillOpacity = 0.8,
bringToFront = T
),
popup = paste0("GEOID: ", maptracts$GEOID, "<br>",
"Number of residential providers: ", maptracts$resproviders)
) %>%
addLegend("bottomright", pal = pal, values = maptracts$resproviders,
title = "Number of residential <br> providers", opacity = 0.7)Block groups
pal <- colorNumeric("plasma", reverse = TRUE, domain = mapblkgps$resproviders)
leaflet() %>%
addProviderTiles("CartoDB.Positron") %>%
addPolygons(data = mapblkgps,
fillColor = ~pal(resproviders),
weight = 1,
opacity = 1,
color = "white",
fillOpacity = 0.6,
highlight = highlightOptions(
weight = 2,
fillOpacity = 0.8,
bringToFront = T
),
popup = paste0("GEOID: ", mapblkgps$GEOID, "<br>",
"Number of residential providers: ", mapblkgps$resproviders)
) %>%
addLegend("bottomright", pal = pal, values = mapblkgps$resproviders,
title = "Number of residential <br> providers", opacity = 0.7)Blocks
Block level maps are slow to render and may be added later.
Average maximum advertised download speeds
Tracts
pal <- colorNumeric("plasma", reverse = TRUE, domain = maptracts$avgMaxAdDown)
leaflet() %>%
addProviderTiles("CartoDB.Positron") %>%
addPolygons(data = maptracts,
fillColor = ~pal(avgMaxAdDown),
weight = 1,
opacity = 1,
color = "white",
fillOpacity = 0.6,
highlight = highlightOptions(
weight = 2,
fillOpacity = 0.8,
bringToFront = T
),
popup = paste0("GEOID: ", maptracts$GEOID, "<br>",
"Average max advertised <br> download speeds: ", round(maptracts$avgMaxAdDown, 2))
) %>%
addLegend("bottomright", pal = pal, values = maptracts$avgMaxAdDown,
title = "Average maximum <br>advertised <br>download speeds", opacity = 0.7)Block groups
pal <- colorNumeric("plasma", reverse = TRUE, domain = mapblkgps$avgMaxAdDown)
leaflet() %>%
addProviderTiles("CartoDB.Positron") %>%
addPolygons(data = mapblkgps,
fillColor = ~pal(avgMaxAdDown),
weight = 1,
opacity = 1,
color = "white",
fillOpacity = 0.6,
highlight = highlightOptions(
weight = 2,
fillOpacity = 0.8,
bringToFront = T
),
popup = paste0("GEOID: ", mapblkgps$GEOID, "<br>",
"Average max advertised <br> download speeds: ", round(mapblkgps$avgMaxAdDown, 2))
) %>%
addLegend("bottomright", pal = pal, values = mapblkgps$avgMaxAdDown,
title = "Average maximum <br>advertised <br>download speeds", opacity = 0.7)Blocks
Block level maps are slow to render and may be added later.
Maximum available advertised download speeds
Tracts
pal <- colorNumeric("plasma", reverse = TRUE, domain = maptracts$bbmax_dl)
leaflet() %>%
addProviderTiles("CartoDB.Positron") %>%
addPolygons(data = maptracts,
fillColor = ~pal(bbmax_dl),
weight = 1,
opacity = 1,
color = "white",
fillOpacity = 0.6,
highlight = highlightOptions(
weight = 2,
fillOpacity = 0.8,
bringToFront = T
),
popup = paste0("GEOID: ", maptracts$GEOID, "<br>",
"Max available <br> advertised download speeds: ", round(maptracts$bbmax_dl, 2))
) %>%
addLegend("bottomright", pal = pal, values = maptracts$bbmax_dl,
title = "Max available <br>advertised <br> download speeds", opacity = 0.7)Block groups
pal <- colorNumeric("plasma", reverse = TRUE, domain = mapblkgps$bbmax_dl)
leaflet() %>%
addProviderTiles("CartoDB.Positron") %>%
addPolygons(data = mapblkgps,
fillColor = ~pal(bbmax_dl),
weight = 1,
opacity = 1,
color = "white",
fillOpacity = 0.6,
highlight = highlightOptions(
weight = 2,
fillOpacity = 0.8,
bringToFront = T
),
popup = paste0("GEOID: ", mapblkgps$GEOID, "<br>",
"Max available <br> advertised download speeds: ", round(mapblkgps$bbmax_dl, 2))
) %>%
addLegend("bottomright", pal = pal, values = mapblkgps$bbmax_dl,
title = "Max available <br>advertised <br> download speeds", opacity = 0.7)Blocks
Block level maps are slow to render and may be added later.